Prison terms ordered in Bird Rock Bandits case

Three young men previously convicted of manslaughter in connection with the May 2007 death of a La Jolla surfer were ordered Friday to serve three years in prison for violating the terms of probation.

Eric House, 22, Matthew Yanke, 23, and Orlando Osuna, 24 — whom prosecutors have said were part of a group called the Bird Rock Bandits — have been jailed since Dec. 22 after each of them admitted violations, including testing positive for marijuana use or associating with one another outside of courtroom.

In June 2008, they each pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in connection with the death of 24-year-old Emery Kauanui. Later, San Diego Superior Court Judge John Einhorn placed them on probation and ordered them to serve time in local jail, rather than state prison.

On Friday, they appeared again in front of the same judge.

“You guys blew it. I’m done being your cheerleader,” Einhorn said. “At the time of sentencing (in 2008) I clearly told you that you were getting the break of a lifetime.”

This time, he sentenced the men to the middle term of three years in prison. They could have been sentenced to up to four years.

Defense lawyers for the three men had asked the judge to consider reinstating probation, acknowledging that the men had squandered a tremendous opportunity but could be trusted to do better.

The attorneys also argued that the violations were relatively minor and that overall the men had tried hard to remain law-abiding and perform well on probation. The lawyers also noted that the acts that constituted the violations were not violent.

But the judge was not persuaded.

Einhorn said that after sitting through a preliminary hearing in the case and a trial for Seth Cravens, who was eventually convicted of second-degree murder in relation to Kauanui’s death, he still considered House, Yanke and Osuna to be a danger to the public.